Concepts of Possession
by SaoirseSpeir
Summary: Prompted, unconnected drabbles that feature Neuro and Yako, and more commonly, NeuroxYako.
1. Only

**.Only.**

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* * *

**

   
Neuro paced the office, around the perimeter like a wolf checking territory. On the walls his feet roamed, on the ceiling, over the windows, his hair falling back perfectly in place as he righted again and again. The world turned upside down and around and perpendicular, but she had still not come.

   
He made his way over to his desk and picked up the cellphone, considering. Should he call again? Impatience leaped in him, but he quickly calmed himself. No. If that slave decided not to answer his call, she'll face the consequences. He dropped the phone back onto the table. Akane flinched a little as it cracked. He was angry. Maybe only a little, but enough to break a phone from a drop of less than a metre.

   
He stopped by the bookcase, filled with books, magazines, old newspaper clippings. He'd read them all, twice. Once for memorization, and the second time to reprieve his boredom. And that's what he was now. Bored. Bored, bored, boooored.

   
Where _was_ she? Making him wait was a crime in itself. He glanced at the clock. It had been two minutes and thirty-two seconds since he had last called. That's enough time. Humans were all for rapid responses anyway. But as he picked up the phone it fell apart in his hands and he remembered why he didn't like getting angry, especially not in the human world.

   
So he'll pay her a visit instead. Hunger comes before all, even punishing disobedient slaves.

Fifth house from the corner, second level from the ground, third window from the right. He knew the way into her room like the back of his gloves. He also knew exactly how to wriggle the window in such a fashion that the pane opened soundlessly.

   
But what he didn't know, what he didn't expect was this. His little slave was looking even more filthy and ragged than normal, sitting all curled up on the floor. Her head was resting on her arms, as if in respite. ...Well, she wasn't dead, so she must be fine!

   
"Slave~! Come on, the puzzles are calling! What are you sleeping for, you lazy barnyard pig. Let's go, before I have to wake you by more...unconventional means."

   
Yako shook her head very slightly, eyes pressed against her sleeve. "...Neuro, no...I'm...tired."

   
Neuro froze, mouth almost dropping open in shock. Did she just refuse a _direct _order from him? He looked around, almost expecting the inhabitants of the demon world to come rushing up out of the holes torn in the universe. No, maybe she was just going through a rebellious phase. He'll fix that.

   
"Did I say you had a choice in this lifetime?" He walked over and yanked her upwards by the back of her collar. Still she wouldn't look at him, eyes staring adamantly at the floor, legs dragging. He frowned, shaking her. She was usually quite agreeable with his orders. Obviously, something must've happened. He lifted her easily, then used one hand to tilt up her chin. She struggled, but no human could match his strength. And it was then Neuro saw why she didn't want him to see her face.

   
Black bruises crept like disease across her soft skin, swelling pebbled the corner of one eye and her lips seemed redder than normal, as if she had mashed over-ripe cherries haphazardly against it. Unlike the small injuries she quickly recovered from when he played with her, this was far graver. Someone had deliberately roughed her up. Someone had deliberately laid a hand on _his_ property, _his_ slave. The cold smile on his face twisted into a frown, and his eyes darkened into a deep, deep jade. When had this happened? Where? And why hadn't he known? Surely his surveillance bug would have caught this? Unless...

   
Quickly, he searched the surroundings for its presence, but his thought was confirmed. The bug was gone. Destroyed, most likely. But by who? Who would have noticed it? Who would _bother _to destroy it? He turned back to Yako, still limp in his hand, her face turned away from his. A strange, sharp sort of anger stroked the undersides of his skin, unfamiliar and irritating. He felt like crushing something, dragging his claws through a terrified, screaming face.

   
"Tell me everything." His voice came out foreign and new, an almost inelegant growl made of stilted tones and animalistic core. A faint voice in his mind warbled at him, reminders of calm, of hierarchy. So he tried to reassure himself: he was simply seeking the perpetrator to exact punishment – a human trained as Yako was, a human that belonged solely to him, nobody but him had the _right_ to do this.

   
"Speak, Yako. Who did this?" He shook her slightly for emphasis. Yako shuddered in his grip, her frail hands pushed against him. Neuro hissed softly, his agitation building. He could feel himself transforming, flickering between true and fake. The anger bubbled, and he imagined the feeling flooding over his hands as molten hot blood, fluid, glutinous. Thick with the pain and suffering of a human - specifically, the one who did this.

   
Carefully – human brains were fragile, after all – he probed her mind with one of his tools, rifling through her memories to find a suspect. Of course, it would be far more entertaining if he had proceeded as normal, searching for clues, inferring scenarios...but this was urgent. It was almost as if there was a pressing need to punish, to ensure that whoever had intruded will not do so again.

   
He tossed Yako unceremoniously onto her bed and left, flitting through the window and leaving a hole that trickled dust long after he had disappeared from sight.

* * *

  
A/N: Ok, a little unfinished. I had meant to write more, but never got round to it, I guess.


	2. Mine

**.Mine.**

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* * *

**

"...Heaven?" Her eyes blinked open in the dim light. "No...can't be, no free food around..." She mutters and he smiles, almost, a slight shift in the positioning of his facial muscles. How very like her. Her body is cradled in the pocket made by his arms and lap, her ragged clothes still damp with her blood dripping onto his clothes and throne but he doesn't care, because it's taken _so long_ just to get to this point.

   
An echoing moan emanates from around them and he glances up, bright green eyes flickering in warning. The keen fades and the creatures encircling the two shuffle restlessly. She notices the strange mutations of being for the first time and she looks up at him as if wondering whether this was just a horrific new level of torture.

   
"Neuro...? I—Neuro, where are we?"

   
He stands up and roughly lifts her with him, and at first her lips pinch in a wince before her eyes widen in surprise. Slowly, she raises an arm, testing pain – or the lack of. Her muscles tauten, she's just realizing, her eyes filling with panic and horror sweep across the crumpled mass of her body and his smirk only widens as he hears her breaths sharpen. "I can't be...no, I can't..."

   
His arms realign around her form as she jerks around to face him. Pleading. Trust teetering on the edge of disbelief. Pleasure thrums through him as he takes it all in._ Such an amusing expression._ A low chuckle escapes him and her eyes fill with horror. He breaths in her familiar scent and almost closes his eyes in content. She feels his fangs bare in that well-known smirk, warm against the back of her neck. She's struggling now against his hold, but she can't escape, no one can, not here. In his domain. In Hell.

   
"You're all mine now. _All_ mine."


	3. Forever, Loyal

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews, you're all incredibly nice! For the record though, I don't think I intend to continue the one-shots (I know, that first one seems a bit out of place...) since these are just plot bunnies that I want to get out of my head or random typings when I get a block. Please ignore the OOCness. D:

[These drabbles are all unconnected.]

* * *

**.Forever.**

Neuro finds her sitting out on the roof on a cloudless night. It's late, but they both know the mother doesn't worry. Not when she's with him.

"What are you doing?" he asks as he walks up behind her hunched form. Yako is silent, gaze fixed on the heavens. When Neuro asks questions, he expects answers. And when slaves don't comply immediately, he dangles them over the railing until they do.

"Ok, ok, put me down already!" she yelps. Neuro is smug, a little smile playing on the corner of his lips. Yako pats down her ruffled hair and looks up in disgruntlement. "I was...I was, um, lookingforashootingstar." she mutters out all in a rush because she's suddenly realized just how childish it sounds, how stupid it _would_ sound, to this man. This man who's lived foreverandever.

"Oho?" he grins, because he knows how she thinks. His little slave was just that transparent.

"Tonight is the best night for it, was on the news." She continues, because she knows he'd want any information that might help solve a mystery, even something like this. "Do you know the story behind shooting stars?"

"Of course I know – such a silly, human design." but she knows he doesn't, not really, since he's got that expectant look on his face (though he doesn't realize it himself at times).

"Yeah, you wish on a star and if you're lucky your wish gets granted." Neuro's face blanks, gets thoughtful. Yako grimaces, because she can imagine what he'll be thinking – _of giant insects that_'_ll pick me up and swing me around like a rag doll...of me finally relenting to becoming his slave, his dishcloth and furniture. _"I hope you're not thinking something nasty again..." she grumbles, but all he does is laugh, scorn and amusement and a little bit of truth all rolled into one puff of breath.

He laughs not only to mock her, and not only for the sake of showing his amusement. If it were he'd just save his breath and grin a bit, a little fanged smile. But laugh and she relaxes, laugh and she trusts. Laugh, and that itsy bitsy thought goes away.

Neuro's smart, smart, smarter than you. But try as he might, he just can't understand the deeper workings of the human mind. Things like pity and altruism and love, they just baffle him. But hey, that's what his little slave over there is for.

_She won_'_t be around forever._ Neuro knows, and it aggravates him. Not because she'll die one day and he'll have to get another slave, but because of how much this thought plagues him. He'll think he's tucked it away, locked it up forever, but somehow, somehow, it escapes and it's there again, weaving in amongst the mystery, louder and just as demanding as the call of hunger. No matter how much he tries to forget it, it just won't die. Back and back and back again, like some frustratingly loyal dog that'll march a hundred miles to find you. Even if you dump it and shout at it and throw it out the door. A little like her, actually.

So he'll stand there with her, until a shooting star comes flying down across the sky. He'll make a wish, and get rid of this pesky thought. A hundred moments pass as they both stare, quiet as the moon itself, waiting.

"LOOK! Neuro! I think I just saw something!"

He saw it, but he knew. It wasn't a shooting star. A flicker of taillights in the sky. But her hopeful face, her happy face... should he crush it? Should he crumble her hopes?

"Well, make a wish then."

But he won't. ...he wants to make a wish too, after all. She glances suspiciously at him before closing her eyes, a look of absolute concentration settling on her face. She grins, big and wide, as she opens her eyes. Her clothing rustles as she stands, walks back to the door.

"What did you wish for?" he asks as he follows her, curious. She hides a smile behind a hand, and he almost sees a wink.

"That's a secret. The wishes won't come true if you tell." She widens guileless eyes, and he suspects she is lying, just to dodge the question. Still, what if...? He frowns a little, pouts a bit. It was an unfair human design. Well, he won't tell her his then!

But it's not as if he'd tell her anyway. Not that wish.

_I wish Yako_'_ll live as long as I do, and save me the trouble of finding another slave._

Not that wish.

* * *

**.Loyal.**

It wasn't that Neuro enjoyed bragging. The fact that he was a genius was a mere fact, nothing more. Mysteries were a stimulant for him, the satisfaction of piecing together unrelated snippets to construct a logical whole was far greater than any physical hunger. And he knew he was better at it than anyone else. Even the Demon Emperor itself acknowledged this.

But Yako held a mystery far deeper than he could ever penetrate. It was something that science couldn't touch. Human nature. In a world supported by fragile theories, mysteries of nature are split apart and dissected into formulas and schemas by the knowledge-hungry mankind. It was ironic really, that the greatest mystery was themselves. How do you explain the homicidal actions of one raised around love? Which formula do you apply when dealing with the equation of the human soul? What are identical twins if they are not perfectly identical? Why do they experience wonder and appreciate beauty?

Neuro walks beside this wall separating knowledge and understanding, and sees, sometimes, the shadow of his girl-slave as she wanders the human heart. And, sometimes, it aches and pulls and irritates to see a difference he'll never overcome. He doesn't like it. He doesn't want it.

And what if, one day, she found out? That in reality, she had surpassed him, she was superior, in this aspect at least. Would they become...equals? Would she...leave?

That wouldn't – _mustn_'_t, his mind whispered traitorously_ – ever occur. He'll make sure. She'll learn inferiority and submission; he'll imprint it on her, like a dog of Pavlov. Dogs were loyal, obedient. They'd never leave a master, not even when faced with death.


End file.
